A megadeal stole the show in beverages in 2015. Speculation had been fermenting for some time, but it got to the stage in September where SABMiller (SAB) had to respond to a spike in press reports about a mooted merger with its larger rival, Anheuser-Busch InBev (BE:ABI).
ABI, which makes Budweiser among others, was already the world's largest brewer with 20.8 per cent of retail sales globally. But by taking on its rival, which accounts for 9.7 per cent of global sales through brands such as Peroni and Grolsch, it will create an even larger gulf between itself and what will be the next biggest brewer, Heineken. While shareholders might be sad to see the UK's only listed brewer disappear from the index, it seems management drove a hard bargain as the £44-a-share offer was a roughly 50 per cent premium to the SAB closing price of £29.34 on 14 September 2015 - the last business day prior to renewed speculation.
The deal, inevitably, begs the question whether there will be more consolidation in the sector? The answer is 'kind of', given various parts of both companies may need to be sold to satisfy antitrust issues although another mega-merger doesn't seem likely.